It seems almost every season, there’s one of those shows from your country that plays on fetishes or a rather bizarre sequence in the anime world. This time, it involves a girl and its….dog. Then, it decides for some odd reason to add the concept of scissors to the mix because we know it’s one of the dangerous gadgets suitable for “punishment”. As for the punishment itself, the receiving end is none other than our dog of the series, Kazuhito Harumi.
Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyo (also known as Dogs & Scissors) is an animated series based off the light novel of the same name written by Shunsuke Sarai. For a series about books though, this show sure likes to play around its other angles. So now begins the story of a dog and its master. (one sadistic if I might even add)
The show’s delivery essentially begins with its accurate delivery and promise. In fact, there’s a feeling of seriousness in the beginning. Our main male protagonist Kazuhito (a bookworm) is eager to read books and novels. As a fan of Shinobu Akiyama's works, he is determined to get the inside scoop of those words written in those text. But then one faithful day, the unthinkable happened. To be honest, if you thought your day was bad, Kazuhito’s day couldn’t get any worse because of what happens next. He becomes something he never thought he’d be and hence begins this strange tale.
As mentioned before, the show takes itself seriously at first. The scene involving Kazuhito and his fate is depicted as brutal and violent with even blood added in the mix. The aftermath however turns out to be much more humorous when we find out that the woman Kazuhito gets acquainted with adapts a sadistic nature to her personality. Dressed in black clad clothing and armed with a deadly pair of scissors, Kirhime Natsuno is a woman that delivers the punishment to our not-so-lucky protagonist. Because of the punishment he receives, the show itself leans towards borderline animal abuse at many stances. Although it seems to be humorous at many cases, the series itself becomes intolerable after many of those repetitive moments. It doesn’t help by the fact that the dog also both intentionally and unintellionally provoke Kirihime at many occasion that results in those punishments.
As far as the plot goes, the series sticks with its premise at first. In fact, it takes its turns early on to finding out the culprit responding for Kazuhito’s fate but more importantly to stick with its original plot. However, the series later on becomes a cluster of absurd comedy that makes little sense or no progression to the story at all.
The story itself also consists of many characters although the majority of the cast consists of female characters of different nature. There’s a masochist, an idol, a maid, and even a yandere. These characters all connects to the tale of the sadist and the dog in some way although mostly depicted as complete nonsense. For instance, the idol (aka the Shining Girl) of the series known as Maxi Akizuki plays little role besides trying to take the spotlight while mostly failing to do so. Then, there’s even a yandere character that clashes against Kirihime in almost borderline incest moments. Other characters later on in the series also presents absurd comedy in different nature related to the concept of competitions.
The relationship between Kazuhito and Kirihime is one of the more dynamic aspects of the series. Almost every episode focuses on them although the development between the duo is quite sour and sometimes way out of line. For the most part, Kirihime abuses Kazuhito at almost any time when she feels something doesn’t go according to her way or when the latter says something that shouldn’t of been said. However, if we look carefully, there’s also cases where Kirihime does treasure Kazuhito and vice versa. Even more so, Kirihime seems to get jealous at times for the dog and acts on those frustrations to carry out her punishments. As for Kazuhito himself, there’s a lot of humor revolving around his character with his new life as the dog. He doesn’t go out to hunt or guard the house but instead still follows on his goals to read books. Even as a dog, his determination seems to become avid as ever.
As noted by its absurd comedy genre, this show doesn’t loosen that style any bit at all. The comedy of this show is ridiculous, as in ridiculously bad. Kirihime’s scissors is just one primary example as a weapon that’s out of this world with inhuman capabilities. Kirihime herself often acts like the boss but she shows insecurity of herself especially in regards to her female body structure. This gag is made fun of nearly every episode because of her small breast size. (assumingly A-Cup). It doesn’t stop there though because her physical nature is made fun of that result in undesired consequences for Kazuhito. This repetitive running gag feels almost like an endless loop at many occasions with the misunderstandings. Later on, a yandere type character also enters the story that formulates a triangle which spells out even more misunderstandings. There’s case of fan services from here and there although it doesn’t fall into the ecchi category. What it does fall under though is the seemingly endless and repetitive gags ranging from masochism to sadism to dog abuse.
There’s some action as well but it’s mostly carried out in a comical fashion. The way the characters move and fight makes it clear at first but the transformations and execution is painful to watch. It tries to follow its themes involving the seven deadly sins as well but most of this is downplayed as nothing more than a textbook of mistakes. At one point, I question myself why I watch this show. Perhaps it might be the small chance of a decent mystery as briefly shown in the beginning of the show but this later wavers down with nothing more than nonsense once again.
Artwork wise, the term generic is what comes to my mind at first glance. Even the dog is portrayed as being generic with its design. He doesn’t look dangerous at all but instead of someone of frail nature. On the other hand, Kirihime’s design does look a tad noticeable with her black clad outfit. Her scarlet eyes and long black hair gives her a more dangerous look. On other hand though, idol characters, maids, and yanderes are designed in this show exactly what you might expect.
The music aspect of this show is almost a joke like the show itself. The OP song "Wan Wan Wan Wan N_1!!" by Inu Musume Club is portrayed as comedy and does its job as such with its sequences. In the song, we see characters dancing while doing animal movements complete with some flashy outfits. The dog though? He’s there in the background usually suffering the abuse. The ED song doesn’t do any better either with bits of fan service and a similar style of its comedy genre. The OST is also hardly noticeable although we do see some of the more dramatic moments carried out in a serious fashion. Finally, I didn’t feel like any of the VA portrayed their roles in an outstanding way. The only noticable voice though might be the voice of Kazuhito when he was once human. If we notice carefully, we never get to see his true face. In other words, the voice of his character when he was human gives off a sense of realism in this ridiculous comedy of nonsense.
For a comedy series, this show sure likes to play around with the genre; a bit too much perhaps. At many points, it feels like if you’re watching not just a parody but a series crafted out of nonsense. By nonsense, I mean nonsense as in making no sense at all while defying the laws of a decent story. The story itself also had a strong promise at first but breaks itself apart with its random gags and repetitiveness. In short, this show is one of those anime series where it tries to be “so bad, it’s good”. However, it just ends up with the first part as in ‘bad’. I know my expectations might be a bit high but being bad sometimes should have its limits.
Sincerely, a disappointed viewer.
